May 2011 Commentary: “ME” versus “WE” at a Crossroads

For centuries artists have used light and dark shading to create three-dimensional effect or shadowing to introduce contrast creatively in a technique called “chiaroscuro” (Italian oxymoron combining “light” and “dark”). Beyond fine art applications, pop art embraced a technological oxymoron in the 1960s—“black light” (UV bulbs)—used to illuminate fluorescent painted posters and make-up cosmetics. Of course, there are many common examples of oxymorons, terms that combine two usually contradictory terms in a compressed paradox, e.g. “bittersweet”, “jumbo shrimp”, “less is more”, “virtual reality”, “holy war”. Throughout history philosophers and thinkers recognizing the duality and paradox of our world and existence found meaning in uniting opposites for balance and harmony: “male/female”, “young/old”, “sickness/health”, “rich/poor”, “rural/urban”, “public/private”, “global/local”, “artificial/natural”, “simple/complex”, “wax/wane, “thick/thin”, “haves/have-nots”, “life/death”, etc. Sometimes they expressed these insights of finding balance and harmony in common examples of oxymora such as “yin/yang” (see several illustrations below).